GAME NOTES: Big East Conference foes meet at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville this afternoon, as the 11th-ranked Cardinals play host to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
Notre Dame has had an up and down season thus far, logging a 9-6 overall record and splitting its first two conference tilts. The Irish have been perfect at home (9-0), but have yet to taste victory outside of South Bend (0-6). They have played just two true road games thus far, the most recent of which happened to be on Wednesday night at Cincinnati -- that bout ending in a 71-55 setback. The loss put an end to a modest two-game win streak for UND, which toppled Pittsburgh in the Big East opener on December 27, 72-59.
Louisville is an impressive 13-2 on the season, but like Notre Dame, the Cardinals have a 1-1 league ledger thus far. Coach Rick Pitino's club returns home for this clash after splitting a pair of road tilts -- losing at rival Kentucky last Saturday and winning at St. John's this past Monday. UofL is 11-1 at home this season, and the team is an eye-popping 30-3 at the KFC Yum! Center in this, its second year of existence.
Louisville leads the all-time series with Notre Dame by a 17-10 margin, but the teams split a pair of meetings last season. Games between the two have been close in recent years, as six of the last 10 have gone to overtime, including both matchups last year.
With only two active double-digit scorers on the roster, it's been a struggle at times for Notre Dame to stand up to the better teams it has faced this season. The loss of Tim Abromaitis (14.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.5 apg) back in November meant guys like Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant were going to need to pick up the slack, and they have to an extent. Both are averaging just over 13 ppg, and both give the team a legitimate three-point threat. However, neither is what you would call a star, so coach Mike Brey has instead had to rely on balance and gritty play at both ends of the court to keep his team competitive. The Irish average 71.5 ppg for the season, but that figure drops to 63.5 ppg in Big East play. Defensively, the team has been solid in yielding 65.1 ppg behind shooting outputs of 41.5 percent overall and 34.4 percent from long range. The effort against league rivals has been pretty much the same, except for the fact that both Pitt and Cincinnati have shot a combined 22.0 percent from beyond the arc. Grant scored 17 points and Jack Cooley recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but the Irish still came out on the short end of a 71-55 final at Cincinnati earlier this week. Notre Dame shot just 33.3 percent from the floor, and went a horrendous 5-of-28 from three-point range, while the Bearcats connected on 43.9 percent of their field goal attempts and got 19 points from their bench compared to just nine for the Irish.
Louisville has played exceptionally well at both ends of the court this season, averaging 72.1 ppg while allowing just 58.7 ppg to the opposition. Add favorable margins in both rebounding (+3.4) and turnovers (+3.0) and it's easy to see why the Cardinals have won considerably more games than they have lost. The team has just three double-digit scorers on the roster, with Kyle Kuric leading the way at 12.9 ppg. Russ Smith adds 12.6 ppg, while Gorgui Dieng is averaging a near double-double with his 10.3 points and 9.6 caroms per contest. Smith was the high man once again for the Cardinals in their recent win over St.John's, as he scored 17 points to go with seven assists, all in 23 minutes off the bench. Kuric added 15 points and five rebounds, while Dieng finished with a line consisting of 12 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks. Louisville made good on 43.3 percent of its total shots on the night, which included a 9-of-22 showing from beyond the arc, but the difference in the game came at the defensive end as the Red Storm struggled at home to shoot just 28.1 percent from the field, which included a dreadful 2-of-16 effort on three-point launches. Additionally, UofL's bench outscored SJU's, 26-9.
Louisville is clearly the better team in this matchup, and you can fully expect the Cardinals to exploit the fact that the Irish have shown very little fight away from the shadow cast by that legendary golden dome.
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